Queen rocker Brian May only decided to green-light a movie portraying his late bandmate Freddie Mercury after Sacha Baron Cohen spent years "pushing" the guitarist to agree.

Last year (10) it was announced the Borat star will play the tragic rock icon in the upcoming film, penned by acclaimed screenwriter Peter Morgan.

May admits the band has spent years avoiding taking on the project, but after a lot of pestering from Baron Cohen they gave in and have now started developing the film.

He tells Britain's Daily Record, "It is a project which is taking up a lot of time even though it is in the preparatory stages. It is a bit early to say how we feel about it. Obviously, we go into it with a great amount of enthusiasm but also a certain amount of caution because Freddie's legacy is very precious and we have a great responsibility not to mess it up. It is more about Freddie than it is about us and that is deliberately so.

"We have resisted making this film for a long time and it is only now we feel we have the right people that we have given it the OK. Sacha does seem perfect. If it hadn't been for Sacha pushing and pushing, we wouldn't be at this point. We didn't choose him. He chose us. He is passionate about playing Freddie. For years, he's been saying he is going to do it."

Like that wasn't obvious :-0 Personally, I think that this film will be a load of rubbish. I'd love to see a film made about Freddie, but I don't think Baron Cohen's version will be the one I'm waiting for ...

I think Baron did the right thing by including May in the Freddie biopic for the simple reason this would lend the biopic some semblance of authenticity. May's casting in the biopic is a value addition that would go down very well with 'Queen' fans as the band reached great heights of musical glory as a cohesive unit in the 70's and 80's. Hats off to SCB for this masterstroke!!! Please check my website on Freddie Mercury: www.fmist.comwww..freddiemercuryindiaschooltour.com

I think Baron did the right thing by including May in the Freddie biopic for the simple reason this would lend the biopic some semblance of authenticity. May's casting in the biopic is a value addition that would go down very well with 'Queen' fans as the band reached great heights of musical glory as a cohesive unit in the 70's and 80's. Hats off to SCB for this masterstroke!!! Please check my website on Freddie Mercury: www.fmist.comwww..freddiemercuryindiaschooltour.com

I think that Brian's Life Story would make a much better film than Freddie's. The creation of the Red Special, forming the band with Roger and how he has had to deal with the fact that his friend contracted HIV and all the subsequent repercussions. Not to mention how hard he has had it keeping it together and keeping the band going while Freddie lived. Anyone who ever met Brian would know that he is too humble to push a story about himself, but surely he has always been the real hero of the piece.

no 2 events can really be compared to one another, especially in this case.!! because what brian and other band members had to cope with emotionally was directly attributable to freddie's untimely demise from the aids scrouge. and paying due respect for the natural order of things, would make an excellent sequel to the freddie biopic. consider yourself a catalyst - are the producers' ear to the ground?

Fireplace wrote: Funny how one Borat can push Brian into making a brand new movie, while thousand of fans can't make him release any worthwhile stuff from the Queen vaults... Haha....perfect statement! Maybe we just all need to get in his face a bit! :)

I think the film has the potential to be brilliant. However, I hope it doesn't focus entirely, or explicitly on Freddie's sexual preference.

It makes no difference to me what his taste's in sexuality was as it was his business. To focus on that part of his life would be akin to making a film on George Washington, and focusing on his false teeth, or having a nude scene with him, and his wife before he rode off the battle.

In other words there are great things that any great person did to make them great, without getting side tracked on other things.

I hope put that as not to ruffle any feathers, however I will put my flame proof undie's on anyway, just in case.

For a legacy film to be succesful all factual aspects of a dear departed's persona has to be covered in order not to render it a lop-sided documentation of his/her life. I am sure the film will turn out beautifully executed.

I don't know about this film,,,,,,The film's not gonna be factual....or the true story of freddie's life. the main story is gonna be Live aid or ends at live aid. How can you write a movie about freddie and Queen without the proper ending?...of course that ending being Innuendo and his illness. I'm not saying the whole movie should be about freddie's illness and aids, but it should at least be Included in the film. The main focus should be the music, but of course some of his personal life should be included, the good and bad times. that's what makes good films.